Kids
by FanFictionWriter2000
Summary: No one is ever ready to say goodbye. No one can be prepared to let go. But none of them had a choice.
1. Chapter 1

**Just first off a huge thank you to anyone who is reading. I worked so hard on this and hope you enjoy.**

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We weren't ready. But then again no really ever is. You live your whole life knowing you're going to die and you have the perfect idea that you'll be 90 years old somewhere in the future slowing drifting away from the world.

But no one wants to die young. You can't possibly prepare yourself to let go. You can't train yourself to remain calm when you see your life dance before your eyes in a cruel slide show flashing in your mind and in the minutes it is all over you fall into the black abyss of nothing.

22.

That's how many kids died.

I say kids because 17 is still young. None of us had even stepped foot in college. We had all just barely started driving. I guess you could call us teens. Yeah teenagers.

In this case the definition meaning humans who thoroughly enjoyed parties and growing up. Kids who only looked forward to the fact that they weren't going to be controlled. We were careless, young, and free.

22.

I can't say I knew them all, but I knew their faces. And I know their faces will forever haunt my dreams. The names that will forever be engrave in my mind.

I can't say I'm completely alone. I have him. We both made it out. But I can't say I'm thankful. I'd rather be dead, buried six feet under. I wouldn't wake up screaming from the nightmares. We wouldn't have to hold each other at night just to chase the bad dreams away.

22.

We were all sitting in class when we heard the announcement. The woman on the speaker telling us to hide. We weren't scared. There was no reason to be.

We didn't know he had a gun.

He burst through our door; I can't even remember the face. Shooting randomly he looked like a crazed monkey. With each horrifying BOOM a body fell, a heart stopped beating, a kid stopped breathing.

When he thought the deed was done he turn the gun on himself. Without hesitation he shot. I was barely alive, limping out of the corner. I saw the very scene you think is only done in movies.

There was blood everywhere. Empty eyes stared at me. Lifeless bodies surrounded me.

The attacker really had no limits. The two rich kids Glimmer and Marvel, I think, lay dead in front.

The two lovers Cato and Clove holding hands near the door; neither one breathing.

Thresh the big muscle man no one dared to mess with fell prey to the steel bullet. His eyes stared at me in the most sinister way.

Then I saw her, Rue, she skipped two grades and was like my baby sister. The bullet went into her stomach. Her blood quickly covering her shirt.

Then there was her, she never really talked or stood out. But in my mind she looked like a fox and thus she was known to me as foxface. Berries lay in her hand still from a snack she was eating.

Then I saw movement. Peeta was alive. I couldn't call out, but I knew he saw me.

I can't say I knew the rest. Their just faces and names now really. It's like they were swept away. Their existence only a memory slowly fading into nothing.

22.

They lost their lives while I can still live mine.

I don't really think it's fair; they all had plans bigger than me. They were going to be someone. Now they're the kids on TV. The kids no one talks about, but everyone still knows their name.

We weren't ready

But then again

No one ever is ready to say goodbye

No one can be prepared to let go

But none of them had a choice.

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**So yes pretend they are all around the same age for this story. Yes, Katniss is telling this from her point of view. I realize I never said/**

**The story is not over yet! I have a few more chapters to add. Please comment because as a writer I value constructive criticism and complements. **

**Thanks to anyone who is still reading and I hope you stay along for the ride.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the next chapter. Sorry it took awhile I got kinda busy.**

We got news on the shooter. Seneca Crane was his name. He had a clean record. Nothing to be ashamed of, a wife and a kid on the way; he had everything to lose.

Peeta still holds me at night, but the nightmares don't go away. I suppose they never will really. You can't just forget they ever lived. That never talked on the phone for hours. No, how could you possibly forget that? How can you forget the way they all fell? How can you forget the way the life left their eyes in seconds?

They're opening up school again. I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back. I'm not even sure that I should. I don't know what to do, I spoke at the funerals, I smiled through the paparazzi, and I even did the interviews. I don't think I'll ever make peace with myself.

Peeta says he'll go back, and I guess I will too.

But I'm not prepared to walk through the front doors. I'm not prepared for the stares we get.

But they happen, and the only thing you can do is keep a straight face and pray you put up walls high enough to hide your face. You keep hoping that you put on so many layers that no one can peel them back.

We brave through the day and even speak when the school mourns in an assembly.

I then get clearance to visit the classroom. I walk in and stop dead in my tracks. I can see them all so clearly. Clove is sitting on the desk waiting for Cato to arrive, he never was on time. Glimmer is fixing her makeup as Marvel tries to tell a joke. Thresh is sitting in the back talking to Rue in quiet voices. He really was a gentle giant when it came to her. Foxface is sitting in the front writing in her notebook, she always was the smart one. Peeta is sitting next to Marvel listening politely and laughing when appropriate. The rest are just mingling around talking aimlessly. None of them know that they won't see the end of today.

Someone taps my shoulder and I know I've been staring too long. I turn and face Peeta and he already has his arms open for me. I hold on for dear life and pray again that this is some horrid dream. That I'm going to wake up tomorrow and everyone will be here.

But those are kid's dreams.

Unrealistic.

I'm told it's okay to cry.

But I am done crying.

I am done giving that selfish man the very emotion he sought.

I fear him. I hate him. But most of all I feel sorry for him.

Sorry that he never got to know these amazing people. Sorry he might not have had someone there to hold him and tell him to put the gun down. I feel sorry that he'll never get to see Thresh's rare smiles or hear Rue's angelic voice. I feel sorry that he will never know them.

And sometimes, I feel sorry I ever did.

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**Thanks for reading my story! I think there might be one or two more chapters because this was never meant to be a long story. **

**Please, please, please review, favorite, and or follow because it really helps motivate me to write more.**

**-FanFictionWriter2000**


	3. Chapter 3

We learned the truth now. His name is Cornelius Snow, he sent Seneca. His followers call themselves the capitol and wait on his every move. His motives were to take out the goverment and install his new and "improved" leadership.

Peeta now gets horrible flashbacks. They come out of nowhere and take control of his body. All I can do is watch helplessly. I can tell they're getting worse, he'll never admit that.

I feel like we're drifting away. I don't know if I'm pushing him out, or if he is closing himself in. I don't like the distance; it makes me feel even more alone.

I don't know why this happened. Why would he only target our classroom? Why would he not kill others? It seems cruel of me to think this way really, sometimes I wonder if he hadn't come to our classroom, what if he shot someone else? We were just normal teenage kids. What was so special about us? What did we do?

I know Thresh didn't exactly hang out with the best people and Glimmer's fortune maybe wasn't all hard work.

We're not kids anymore; our innocence was stolen the moment we heard the first gunshot.

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(Time skip)

Am I supposed to grow up and forget? Every year, when that wretched date rolls around, the media demands interviews and life updates.

My parents and therapists say I should talk, get my message out there and maybe I'll finally be at peace. But what do they know? What does anyone know except Peeta?

We have a baby on the way now. Our marriage was arranged from the moment we were 18. Everyone wanted to see us date and we couldn't say no. You can't just say no to the press.

We're happy; at least that's what I tell the press. But sometimes lies are the easiest to believe.

They still haven't found Snow. I don't think they will anytime soon. He isn't exactly waving a flag above his head yelling, "Here I am!"

I went to college. I graduated. I did everything I wanted to do, but I did it in their name. The names that to this day still aren't spoken in fear they will wear out.

I guess it's time to move on, and I'm ok with that. I think this is the first time I am ever ok with something.

My daughter will grow up knowing their names. She will grow up knowing what they did and what they were going to do. And when she is old enough, she will know their names by heart and know exactly what a cruel world we live in.

She will be left to ponder the question, "How much should we care?" Should we let something like this crush up beyond no return, or should we let it go and forget?

How much should society care?

How much will you?

**This is the end and I have to say I proud of myself for finishing this story considering I am so late and I truly apologize for that. **

**I know I am not a professional and there are much better writers out there, but I want to thank anyone who read this until the end.**


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